


Refusal

by twoturtlesinabathtub



Series: The Right Words [3]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Love Confession, M/M, mild spoilers if you’ve never been to Lurelin Village
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 08:04:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17679593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twoturtlesinabathtub/pseuds/twoturtlesinabathtub
Summary: Sidon would like to think that his and Link’s relaxing day in Lurelin Village is a date.Even if it isn’t, he can still pretend.





	Refusal

**Author's Note:**

> This is completely self-indulgent and I have no regrets lol

“What on...” Sidon’s face screwed up in worried confusion. When Link had asked the Zora prince to meet him in Lurelin Village, one thing Sidon certainly hadn’t expected to see when he’d arrived at its shores was the Hylian Champion using bombs on palm trees. Not monsters, _trees_. Sidon set foot on the beach near the docks and stared at a small stand of palms on the hill before him. There was Link, setting a square remote bomb at the base of a tree and scurrying away. He pressed a button on his Sheikah Slate and _bam_ , the tree fell to the earth with a mighty crash. Link hopped on over and picked up the palm fruits that had fallen from it.

An odd little thing, that Slate. Link had shown Sidon the runes that lay within its compact packaging, old magic that could manipulate the elements themselves with the press of a few buttons. The ancient Sheikah technology baffled Sidon—even Link had admitted that its technology was beyond his understanding.

“Link?” the Zora called, and the Champion turned to see him. When Link saw the prince, he waved and trotted over to Sidon, his movements slowed a bit by all of the sand.

“It’s wonderful to see you again, my dear friend,” began Sidon. “However...may I ask why you were just using bombs to knock over trees?”

“It’s raining,” said Link simply. “I couldn’t climb.” Sidon blinked slowly. He wasn’t sure that gathering fruit was a justifiable excuse for deforestation, but before he could voice his concern, the rain began to let up. Link frowned at the sky. “Well, now I feel kind of bad.” Sidon couldn’t keep a grin off of his face, and its infectiousness was made manifest when Link smirked back at him.

“I’m glad you could meet me here,” Link continued. “I wanted to take a little break before I set out to board Vah Rudania. And...well, my first thought was that I wanted to be with you. Thanks for coming.”

Well, that comment alone was enough to send Sidon’s head spinning. “O-of course,” he stammered. “Nothing could have kept me from seeing you.”

Link laughed warmly. “That’s nice of you to say. Come on, I’ll grab my bag and we can get going.”

The pair walked up the hillside until they’d reached a small pond, and Link bent down to grab his satchel from where it had been resting at the base of a large palm. When he straightened up, he did a double-take at the nearest house down the slope. “Hold on a second.” Sidon watched Link stretch up onto his tiptoes and squint in the direction of the building.

The Zora moved to stand behind the Link, looking in the same direction. “What is it?” he asked.

“See those rocks?” Link pointed to the roof of the house, upon which several stones were arranged in a perfectly triangular pattern. Well, almost perfect—a stone was missing from the formation. 

“I do.” Sidon nodded.

Link grinned. “A Korok’s hiding somewhere around there.” He chuckled at Sidon’s confused expression.

“What do you mean?” asked Sidon.

“Well, they’re hiding all over the place, really,” Link explained. “If I see anything odd, like a single stone on the top of a hill, or a flower that keeps moving once I get near it, it’s really a Korok being clever. They give you little seeds.”

“No, you misunderstand me.” Sidon looked a touch embarrassed. “What _is_  a Korok?”

Link gaped at the Zora. “You’ve never...” Then he squared his shoulders and looked around them. “Aha!” He dashed over to the side of the house, picked up a large sledgehammer, and walked back to where he and Sidon had been standing. It was only then that the prince realized that the hill was speckled with similarly large stones. Sidon watched as Link pulled out the Sheikah Slate and used its Stasis rune to freeze a stone in place.

“Erm, Link?” Sidon asked politely, as he watched the Hylian begin to whack the frozen stone with the sledgehammer mercilessly. “What are you doing?”

“Showing...you a...Korok,” Link grunted between swings. Moments later, the stone unfroze and shot off in the direction Link had been swinging, sailing through the air and coming just short of landing on the house’s roof. “Whoops.” Sidon heard a muffled and confused sounding shout come from inside the casino. “Pretend you didn’t see that,” said Link. He walked over to another rock and repeated the process.

Finally, on the fourth try, Link hit a rock with the perfect amount of force; Stasis sent it arcing through the air, landing on the roof of the house with a thud (and, for the fourth time, the owner let out an angry shout about hooligans who had absolutely no respect for private property).

“Well done!” Sidon congratulated. “Now what?” Link beckoned Sidon to come with him, and they trotted over to the side of the house. The prince watched as Link nimbly climbed to the roof, picked up the rock he’d hit up there, and set it down to complete the triangle.

The moment he did, a tiny creature popped into view in the triangle. Upon seeing what looked to be a small figure made of wood that was wearing a leaf for a mask, Sidon gasped and his eyes went wide.

“Yahaha! You found me!” the Korok squeaked, and the Champion gave it a winning smile. He thanked it when it handed him a little seed, and then Link went down on one knee to whisper to the Korok. After the Korok made a little noise in agreement, they both turned to look down at Sidon.

“Say hello, Sidon,” Link said with a little laugh as he gestured to the creature beside him.

Sidon’s voice was soft as he stared up at the Korok in wonder. “Hello,” he said hesitantly.

“Hiiii!” it called out. Sidon wanted to cry—it was the cutest thing he’d ever _seen_. 

...Well, the second-cutest thing.

Sidon gave the Korok a little wave, then Link said goodbye and paraglided down from the roof, right towards Sidon.  “Catch me!” said Link with a laugh. An enormous grin came over prince’s face as he caught Link, and he was legitimately worried for a moment that the Champion would be able to feel his heart’s frantic palpitations. “I’ve missed you,” Link said, his voice slightly muffled against the crook of Sidon’s neck.

Oh...that was nice. “And I, you,” replied Sidon with a breezy laugh. His eyes closed as he held the little Hylian, savoring each measly second.

Eventually, of course, he had to put Link down. “So,” he began, “what would you like to do today?”

Link scratched the back of his neck. “Uh, I didn’t exactly plan today out—I just figured we could do whatever we felt like doing, you know?”

As someone who lived a life steeped in old traditions, careful planning, and tight schedules, Sidon relished the idea of a day of freedom with the Champion. “Nothing would make me happier, Link!”

“Good.” They began to make their way back to the beach. “So you’ve really never met a Korok?” asked Link, disbelief heavy in his tone.

“I assure you, if I had met one, I’d have befriended it immediately.”

“That’s crazy. I’ve found two in the Domain itself! And there might be more.”

“Really? That’s fascinating. I’d love to meet more of those delightful creatures.” Sidon paused in their walk when Link spotted a blueshell snail at the edge of the water. 

After snagging it, shaking out some of the water, and then dropping it into his satchel, Link’s gaze fell on a raft tied to a dock farther down the shore. His bright eyes slid over to look at the prince. “How would you like to go for a bit of a sail?”

“I’d like that,” Sidon replied. In truth, he’d only been on one sort of watercraft or another a handful of times in his life. Why sit on some wood when you could swim wherever you wanted? Still, any time spent with the little Hylian was sure to be worth it. Link grinned at his response.

They walked along the shoreline a bit more until they reached a small goddess statue set into a ridge of rock. “You go on up ahead,” said Link to Sidon. “I’ll be over in a minute.” Sidon nodded his assent and dutifully continued to make his way to the raft—but not before peeking over his shoulder and seeing Link kneeling before the statue as he gazed into its serene, weathered face.

It really did take just a moment. By the time that Sidon had untied the raft from the dock, he looked behind him to see Link already jogging in his direction. It was difficult to explain but, to Sidon, the Hylian somehow looked _stronger_  than he had before he’d prayed. Healthier, with a bit more spring in his step. Perhaps the Goddess really did have a soft spot for the Champion. She wasn’t the only one.

“Ready?” asked Link as he boarded, pulling a Korok leaf seemingly from nowhere.

Sidon laughed. “Ready!”

The weather was gorgeous, the water perfect. It made Sidon want to get out of the Domain more often—not abandon his responsibilities, of course, but even he needed the occasional break.

Their conversation subjects varied, though a great deal of it consisted of Sidon asking questions and Link answering. He’d done so _much_  that he spoke almost nonchalantly about amazing experiences, saying things like “oh, I saw a dragon by a bridge on my way here” and “hinoxes aren’t so tough if you’ve got some bomb arrows handy”. The casual way in which he spoke of these things bordered on the ridiculous.

And it was by speaking with Link that Sidon learned he knew much less of Hyrule than he’d originally thought. The Great Calamity had made Zora citizens more wary, less willing to venture beyond their own borders, stagnating their society and fostering mistrust of the other races. It was disheartening to witness.

But Link...he represented all that was good in this land—its life, its optimism, its relentless curiosity and wild spirit. Since he’d calmed Ruta, Sidon had even begun to witness a change in his people, a spark of hope for the future that he hadn’t seen in a century. Sidon would’ve had to be mad if he _hadn’t_ fallen in love with this little man who’d stubbornly sworn to seal the darkness. Sidon would have to be utterly bonkers.

(He probably already was. But it wasn’t his fault.)

“Hey,” said Link, snapping Sidon from his reverie, “I think I see something.” He put down the Korok leaf and stood up on the tips of his toes, squinting down into the blue.

Sidon stood. “What is it?”

“I think it’s a chest.” Link whipped his Sheikah Slate from his side and used its Magnesis rune to lift a treasure chest from the sea. After depositing the chest onto the raft, Link bent down and opened it.

Sidon peered over Link into the chest. “Well? What’s in it?”

Link paused, reached in, and slowly lifted the treasure up out of the chest. It was a bundle of ten common arrows. “...You’ve got to be kidding me,” said Link, sounding stunned.

Sidon hid his smile behind a hand.

“Who would put _ten_ _arrows_  in a _treasure_ _chest_  and drop it in the _ocean_?” Link plopped back down onto the raft with a huff, grudgingly tossing the arrows over by his satchel.

Sidon shrugged and sat down beside him. “Not all surprises are very rewarding,” he said lightly.

Link snorted and kicked his feet in the water. “Trust me, I know.”

Sidon looked down at his friend, amused at the pouty way that Link had stuck out his bottom lip. “Well, at least we were able to get out in the water today. It’s gorgeous here.”

“It is,” Link replied with a little grin, staring out towards Eventide Island. 

“Thank you again for inviting me to be with you,” Sidon said after a moment. “I’m really enjoying myself.”

“No problem. It’s always good to see you—and I figured you’d want to make sure that I’m safe. That’s what you talked about with Muzu, right?”

Sidon felt like a strange weight was beginning to compress his chest, right above the gills. “W...what?” he said slowly.

Link splashed his feet in the water some more. “Well, you did make it sound very _official_. ‘Ensuring my wellbeing’—aren’t those the words you used with Muzu?”

Sidon froze in his tracks. Link had heard him say that? Then that meant...oh, no. What he’d whispered after Muzu had left the infirmary, while Sidon had held Link’s hand (oh, _no_ ) came to mind, unbidden: “ _I’ll_ _keep_ _you_ _safe_. _As_ _long_ _as_ _you_ _wish_ _it_ , _I_ _will_ _remain_ _at_ _your_ _side_. _Always_.” He’d thought that the Hylian had been asleep! Sidon suddenly felt like he was going to be sick. “You have a good memory,” he croaked.

Link shrugged. “It’s okay.”

“Did you...did you hear anything else?” 

Link hummed. “I don’t think so.... I was a bit in and out of consciousness, really.” He shrugged again.

Blessed Hylia. Sidon’s shoulders sank in relief. That could have been humiliating.

The conversation could have ended there. It _should_  have ended there, but Sidon was opening his mouth anyway. “When you were sleeping, I told you that I’d be with you whenever and wherever you wish,” he blurted.

Link craned his neck up to look into the prince’s eyes, and Sidon’s heart rate skyrocketed. “Really?” said Link simply.

“Of course,” Sidon replied earnestly. “I would do anything for you, my Champion.” What was he _doing_? Goddess, why was he still _talking_? “Link, I—well—what I'm trying to say is that I—” Sidon took a much needed breath of air, looking away from Link at the last second. “I...care for you, Link.” He let out a little nervous laugh. “I’ve cared for you ever since the moment we met on Inogo Bridge—and perhaps even before that.”

Sidon was shocked at himself. He stared at the water gently lapping at their raft, waiting for the inevitable rejection, the scorn—

Link touched Sidon’s arm, and Sidon looked down at the Hylian, eyes afraid. “I know, Sidon," Link assured him. "I care about you, too. Sometimes I feel like I'd be lost whenever I'm not by your side."

Sidon blinked rapidly as he stared at the Champion. Did Link actually mean it? It seemed too good to be true that his affections could actually be requited. Sweet relief cascaded over him, until he felt like he was swimming in a sea of endorphins, until he felt like he was floating on cloud—

"After all, you're my best friend," finished Link. As quickly as he’d ascended, Sidon fell back down onto the unforgiving ground.

Friend? Friend. _Friend_. Sidon barely refrained from releasing a loud sigh. Ugh, he'd been so moronic, so _stupid_  for just assuming Link could ever see Sidon the same way that Sidon saw him. The prince wanted to dive into the sea and never come up, just so that he wouldn’t have to face his humiliation. And if he bashed his head on the surrounding coral reef in his attempt, all the better.

He knew he was being melodramatic. Link was good at bringing that out in Sidon. But it didn’t change the fact that the prince would do whatever Link needed of him. “I thank you for that,” Sidon replied.

Link leaned back on his hands, surveying the vast swathe of blue that laid before them. “I needed this. Today. A break.” He blew a strand of hair out of his face. “Tomorrow it’s back to the grind—well, back to Goron City.”

At the mention of Link’s impending departure, Sidon cleared his throat. “About that.... I’ve been thinking about something.”

Link glanced up at the Zora. “What is it?”

“Well—” Sidon had to try very hard not to swim away from this entire conversation— “I’ve been thinking about the immense tasks you have before you, and how you seem to be taking most of them on alone. And, seeing as I am a rather accomplished warrior, I was thinking of accompanying you on some of your more perilous exploits.”

Link’s face went through a strange transformation as Sidon explained himself. A shadow passed over his face, and his eyes grew uncharacteristically dark as he began to scowl at the Zora. Before Sidon could finish his sentence, Link held up a hand in front of Sidon’s face and said, “No. Absolutely not.” Rather emphatically.

Sidon’s eyes widened in surprise as he fought to suppress the overhwelming _hurt_  that accompanied such a swift rejection. “Oh. I’m terribly sorry if I’ve offended you in some way, Champion.”

Link glared down at the space between them for several moments, then shook his head sharply. “I’ve got to go,” he muttered. “No more messing around.” He quickly unclipped the Sheikah Slate from his belt and began scrolling across a map of Hyrule.

Sidon’s stomach sank like a stone. “So soon?”  he asked in a small voice as Link blindly searched for his satchel behind him on the floor of the raft.

Link refused to look at him. “Yes, so soon. You can take the raft back to shore—I need to hurry.”

“Wait! When will I see you again?”

“Dunno.” Link paused, opened his mouth as if to say something, but immediately closed it again. He exhaled slowly through his nose and, still refusing to make eye contact with Sidon, said quietly, “Wish me luck.”

The Zora could do nothing as Link was swallowed by the Slate’s warping effect, becoming strands of blue and white that eventually slipped from sight completely. Sidon stared at the empty patch of air where Link had been mere seconds ago. Too much was going through his mind. He wondered what he’d done or said wrong. He wondered why Link had seemed so _upset_. He wondered...he wondered if this were the last time he’d ever see—

Sidon did his best to banish that thought completely. All he knew was that Link’s departure was for the greater good of Hyrule, and that wanting to keep the Champion by his side would be a very selfish thing for Sidon to do. He just had to have faith in Link, faith that he would be safe. Faith that he might visit Sidon again sometime.

With that thought lingering in his mind, Sidon slowly slipped into the water and began to push the raft to shore.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote my first Sidlink fic to see if I _could_. I wrote the second because several people asked me to write another one, haha. And I wrote this one because I thought that it would be fun. I was right! There’ll be one more fic to wrap this series up. Thanks for reading ^^


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